By Pasquale Salvatore, Marco Ruzza, Antonella Intuire, Francesco Bordin, Marco Napolitano, Stefania Medda, Luca Longobardi

Article 17 of the 2027 Italian Budget Bill introduces a new Article 307-bis into the Consolidated Income Tax Act (Legislative Decree No. 117/2026), taxing unrealised gains on financial assets when tax residence is transferred abroad. The provision is not yet final and may be amended during the parliamentary process.

Scope

The rules would apply to individuals who have been Italian tax resident for at least 6 of the 10 tax periods before the transfer, as well as to società semplici and equivalent entities and to non-commercial entities. The tax would be due only if the transfer causes Italy to lose its taxing rights and the relevant financial assets have a total fair market value of at least €800,000, measured on the last day of the tax period before the exit.

The draft provision limits its scope to miscellaneous income “redditi diversi”, except for income over which Italy retains taxing rights even after the individual’s relocation abroad. This wording may require further refinement, given that proceeds arising from the disposal of certain financial instruments may, for Italian tax purposes, be classified as investment income “redditi di capitale” rather than miscellaneous income.

Calculation and payment

The tax would apply to the sum of the positive differences between fair market value and tax cost of each asset, under the ordinary rules (generally 26%; 12.5% for government bonds and equivalent securities). It would be payable within 180 days from the loss of residence.

For transfers to an EU Member State or to a country ensuring adequate exchange of information and recovery assistance, payment of the tax could be deferred until the assets are disposed of, subject to an advance payment of 50% of the tax due and an adequate guarantee. The deferral would last five tax periods for transfers to an EU Member State and ten tax periods for the other eligible countries. No tax would be due on assets not disposed of within that period, on assets transferred on death, or on assets not yet disposed of if the taxpayer becomes Italian tax resident again within the same period; any excess amounts paid would be refunded.

Effective date and points to watch

The rules would apply to transfers of tax residence taking effect from 1 January 2027, with implementing rules to be set out in a Ministry of Economy and Finance decree. Some aspects remain open under the current wording:

• residence periods before 2027 are not excluded from the 6-year count;
• the scope of the relevant assets (e.g. bank deposits and foreign currency) will need to be clarified;
• there is no coordination with the lump-sum regime for new residents under Article 24-bis.